High pressure tank holder automatic locking mechanism

ABSTRACT

A high pressure tank holder automatic locking mechanism comprising a casing mounted to a outside portion of a rim of a high pressure tank bottle rack, a lever brace having at its upper end a lever extending downwardly from the casing into an interior opening of the rim of the bottle rack, and the lever is configured and made from a spring formed flat material. The lever extends downwardly at an angle of 30-60 degrees from said brace.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/137,222 filed Jul. 29, 2008.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to an automatic locking mechanism to properly and safely secure high pressure tanks, such as oxygen tanks, more particularly, the invention relates to a device to prevent high pressure tanks used in medical facilities from being placed into a holder without locking the unit into place.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Medical facilities utilize oxygen stored in high pressure tanks which are required to be locked into holders to transport the tank from one place to another. The current method of locking these into place is a screw which must be manually tightened. The vast array of people responsible for these tanks to be secured are Certified Nurses Assistants, Nurses, Doctors, Therapists, anyone working in a medical facility. The human error factor is greater with the amount of people responsible, which causes the safety hazard of having a high pressure tank not safely secured.

What is needed is an elimination of the possibility that a high pressure tank could be transferred in a facility without being secured properly and safely.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is a device that will automatically lock the high pressure tank into place when the tank is placed into the holder. The invention utilizes a lever which will allow the high pressure tank to only travel into the holder preventing it from coming back out. To remove the high pressure tank, the lever must be manually pulled buy the person removing the tank.

More specifically, the invention is a high pressure tank holder automatic locking mechanism comprising a casing mounted to a outside portion of a rim of a high pressure tank bottle rack, a lever brace having at its upper end a lever extending downwardly from the casing into an interior opening of the rim of the bottle rack, and the lever is configured and made from a spring formed flat material. The lever extends downwardly at an angle of 30-60 degrees from the lever brace.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

In the accompanying drawing:

FIG. 1 is a conceptual depicture of the invention with the high pressure tank shown.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to the drawing, FIG. 1 discloses a conceptual representation of the present invention, which is a high pressure tank holder automatic locking mechanism.

The invention comprises a lever 2, which is made from a flat spring formed material and extends out of a casing 1 of the locking mechanism. The casing 1 is mounted to a bottle rack 4, which is conceptual depicted as a cylindrically shaped circle in FIG. 1. Rack 4 is the holder in which the tank is placed for transportation and would generally be at a level above the base of the bottle rack transport device. Casing 1 is generally mounted outside the rim of the bottle rack 4.

The lever 2 downwardly extends into the center of the rim of the bottle rack 4 in which the high pressure tank is inserted. It is formed to offer the proper amount of pressure against the side surface metal of the tank to secure the tank into place with sufficient resistance to prevent the tank from coming out of the rack 4 without releasing the pressure. The lever 2 extends into the rim of rack 4 is angled down at a predetermined angle such as 30-60 degrees, preferably about 45 degrees, to allow the high pressure tank to travel into the rim of the bottle rack 4 automatically depressing the spring lever 2 and securing the high pressure tank in place.

To remove the high pressure tank, the lever 2 must be pulled back to release the pressure of the lever 2 off the high pressure tank while removing the high pressure tank from the tank holder rack 4.

The spring 2 is formed to hold the high pressure tank with all the tension of the lever 2 made from spring material engaging within the ring of the bottle rack 4. The extended flat part of the spring lever 2 is used as the lever portion that is manipulated by hand to release the bottle. Lever 2 is connected at one end to a lever brace 3 incorporated within the casing 1. Essentially, brace 3 serves as the structural base support for the spring formed lever 2.

The lever 2 maybe coated with a slip resistant coating or a material such as a polyurethane rubber for gripping. The brace 3 and the casing 1 prevent any damage to the integrity of the spring lever 2. As mentioned above, the spring lever 2 is preferably made out of flat spring steel. The casing 1 and brace 3 are preferably made out of a hard metal material, including aluminum, steel alloy, stainless steel, cast iron, and similar materials suitable for the intended purpose.

It should be understood that the preceding is merely a detailed description of one or more embodiments of this invention and that numerous changes to the disclosed embodiments can be made in accordance with the disclosure herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The preceding description, therefore, is not meant to limit the scope of the invention. Rather, the scope of the invention is to be determined only by the appended claims and their equivalents. 

1. A high pressure tank holder automatic locking mechanism comprising: a casing mounted to a outside portion of a rim of a high pressure tank bottle rack; said casing further comprising a lever brace and a lever extending downwardly at a predetermined angle from said casing into an interior opening of said rim of said bottle rack; and said lever being configured and made from a spring formed flat material.
 2. The mechanism in accordance with claim 1, wherein said lever extends downwardly at an angle of 30-60 degrees from said brace.
 3. The mechanism according to claim 1, wherein said lever has a surface coated with a slip resistant gripping material. 